R.I. authority puts off planned toll hikes for Sakonnet River Bridge

Wednesday

May 7, 2014 at 10:13 PM

JAMESTOWN — Toll rate increases that were expected to take effect May 16, including a $3.65 hike for some motorists crossing the Sakonnet River Bridge, were put off Wednesday morning by a vote of the...

Mark Reynolds Journal Staff Writer mrkrynlds

JAMESTOWN — Toll rate increases that were expected to take effect May 16, including a $3.65 hike for some motorists crossing the Sakonnet River Bridge, were put off Wednesday morning by a vote of the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority.

The authority voted to put the previously scheduled rate hikes on hold after the panel’s chairman voiced support for giving Rhode Island lawmakers more time to work on bridge-related legislation, which includes a proposal to eliminate the controversial Sakonnet toll altogether.

The legislation would also create a transportation fund to pay for bridge and highway maintenance costs statewide and transfer authority of the new Sakonnet bridge and the Mount Hope Bridge, which connects Bristol and Portsmouth, to the state Department of Transportation.

“Clearly, there’s a lot going on at the State House with the General Assembly,” said the authority’s chairman, Stephen C. Waluk.

The authority voted on March 19 to increase the toll on the Sakonnet River Bridge, from 10 cents, to 50 cents for drivers with a Rhode Island E-ZPass electronic toll-payment device and to $3.75 for all other drivers. The vote also called for increasing the E-ZPass rate on the Pell Newport Bridge, from 83 cents, to $1.04.

Waluk suggested that the authority look at extending the planned rate hikes “to allow the policy makers to make the decisions that they are going to make and we will have to react according to that.”

The panel voted to put the increases on hold until June 12, which is the day after its next scheduled meeting.

This was after Waluk assured members of the panel that the authority could pay its bills in the near term without compromising its finances.

“We are able to stay open and pay our bills and that being [the case] for the foreseeable future,” Waluk said. “We are OK right now.”

“It’s important that we maintain our financial position with this authority while also being cognizant of other decisions that need to be made,” he said.

The state Senate had been expected Wednesday to take up a bill that would remove the toll, but has postponed the bill until next week, a Senate spokesman said.

Greg Pare, spokesman for Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed, said the bill has been rescheduled for May 14.

“It’s to give time for the Senate, the House and the governor’s office to work together on language,” Pare said.

There are differences in the current Senate and House versions of the bill, he said. On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee endorsed the bill to remove the toll and establish a fund that would pay for bridge and highway maintenance around the state. The Senate version that cleared committee Tuesday is sponsored by Sen. Louis P. DiPalma, D-Middletown.

The crossing on the Sakonnet River, between Portsmouth and Tiverton, has been under control of the DOT in the past. In 2012, the General Assembly transferred it to the authority in an effort to eliminate bridge maintenance expenses from the state budget. It also gave the authority the power to collect tolls.

DiPalma’s proposal would ban tolls on all but the Pell Newport Bridge, between Jamestown and Newport. It would leave the authority with control over only the Pell bridge and the Jamestown-Verrazzano Bridge, a span from Jamestown to North Kingstown.

The authority’s decision to delay higher tolls was supported by some fierce opponents of the tolling system, including Portsmouth resident John Vitkevich.

“It was a very responsible action that that they just did,” Vitkevich said.

“They’re listening,” he said. “They realize that the opposition is not going away.”

With reports from staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.